India's Investments In Infrastructure And Technology Pay Off With Significant Climb On World Bank's Logistics Performance Index

India has moved up six spots on the World Bank’s 2023 Logistics Performance Index (LPI). This achievement is credited to India’s investments in soft and hard infrastructure, along with technology.

The country ascended from the 44th place in 2018 to 38th in 2023 out of 139 countries on the index, demonstrating a significant enhancement in performance since being ranked 54th in 2014.

In October 2021, the Narendra Modi-led government launched the PM Gati Shakti initiative, a national master plan for multimodal connectivity, aimed at lowering logistics costs and stimulating the economy by 2024-25.

Subsequently, the National Logistics Policy (NLP) was introduced in 2022 by the prime minister to solve transport issues, optimise manufacturing efficiency, and speed up last-mile delivery in the logistics sector.

India's policy interventions have shown positive outcomes, evident in the country's rise in LPI and other measures.

In terms of infrastructure, India has moved up five places from 52nd to 47th in the 2018-2023 period.

Its rank for international shipments has climbed to 22nd, up from 44th in 2018.

Furthermore, India's logistics competence and equality has risen four places to 48th.

India surged 17 spots for timelines and advanced to 38th place in tracking and tracing.

The report cited modernisation and digitalisation for enabling emerging economies to leap over the advanced ones.

India implemented a supply chain visibility platform under a public-private partnership, leading to significantly reduced delays.

NICDC Logistics Data Services provides RFID (radio frequency) tagging on containers and enables end-to-end tracking for supply chain consignees.

From May to October 2022, India and Singapore had an average dwell time of three days for containers — better than some developed countries. The United States had a seven-day dwell time, while Germany's was 10.

The report highlighted that emerging economies like India have implemented effective tracking and tracing solutions, allowing for shorter delays and decreased dwell time (2.6 days in India's case).

Dwell time refers to the amount of time a ship or cargo spends at a port or terminal before being loaded or unloaded onto a vessel. Any delays in a port can disrupt shipping schedules, affecting the entire service.

The LPI reviews 139 countries' ease of establishing a supply chain and related structural factors such as infrastructure, logistics services, and border controls.